


The way we were (just more grown up)

by darkchild



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Idiots in Love, One Shot, Rumbelle - Freeform, True Love, past angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-26
Updated: 2015-06-26
Packaged: 2018-04-06 04:57:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4208763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkchild/pseuds/darkchild
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been four years since Belle left for the great unknown.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The way we were (just more grown up)

Gold is sitting at Granny's when it happens. 

The siren that alerts them if someone is getting dangerously close to the town line is in mid wail and it's got everybody up and out into the street in no time. 

"Does anybody know what it is yet? If it's a threat it's better to know now then when we get up there." Snow says, turning to everybody. Nobody answeres her.

They're all about halfway to the town line when Gold sees Grumpy rush towards Snow. He whispers something into her ear and she nods and glances over at him. He didn't have anything to do with it this time, so he doesn't get why they're staring at him. He puts an extra venomous smile on his face and continues walking. 

When the town line is in view they all start to slow. "It's a woman!" Ruby cries.

For one split second Gold allows himself to hope. He allows himself to be a dreamer of far flung dreams. But then he steels himself, because nothing can erase the dull ache that's left when it turns out not to be her.

The woman looks to be carrying a bunch of bags on each arm, tilting just a little bit so that she doesn't completely drop the heaviest one. She's covered from head to toe trying to stay warm in the frigid Maine winter.  
A blue hat covers her head, hiding her hair. She's got a long and thick coat that's dark red in color. To top it all off she's wearing a blue scarf that's wrapped almost all the way around her face.

"She couldn't possibly be of any danger to us. What's she going to do, whack us to death?" said Jefferson. "It doesn't matter. If she's mortal she shouldn't be in Storybrooke." Regina says, walking closer to the line.

The woman gets closer and closer until she's almost right on the town line. She stops to dig out a paper from a bag on her left arm and once she's got it, starts to read what it says. She says it in a whisper so low that not even Regina can hear. 

Regina turns to Jefferson. "Now do you take this threat seriously?" "Darling, I never take anything seriously" Jefferson says, rolling his eyes. "Regina, don't do anything to her unless she acts like she has magic or tries to hurt somebody." Snow tells her, ever the kind heart.

The protective shield that boxes in Storybrooke from the outside world made a loud crack and then suddenly a hole started forming where the woman stood, letting her in. When the hole was big enough, the woman stashed away the paper and began to walk through. 

The hole disappeared as fast as it popped up and there the girl stood. She glanced over at Regina and nodded her head. She said something that was muffled by her scarf but it resembled something of a hello. "Hello." Regina says, voice full of surprise.

The woman seems to realize that everyone's watching her as she turns away from Regina. She scans the crowd until her eyes land on someone. She started moving towards whoever she was looking at and as she got closer to Gold, the more nervous he got. He wasn't looking at her. He doesn't even recognize the girl, but he hopes anyway.

It's been four years since she left him to travel. She said she needed time and space and what better way to have that then to leave this little nook of a town. He'd fallen apart easier than he ever had and it took him two of those years just to figure out that the answer wasn't always at the bottom of a beer bottle. 

By the time New Years day rolled around on the third year, he had stopped hoping quite so frequently that she would waltz right back into his shop one day acting like nothing had happened. It hurt too much to think about her, even the parts he didn't want to forget. 

He had been lost in thought and didn't notice that the woman had stopped in front of him until she dropped all of those massive bags to the ground, startling him. He looked up from the ground and into her eyes and stopped breathing. 

Those eyes are made from the stuff of legends. Those eyes are the eyes of his true love. Those eyes are the deepest shade of brilliant blue and he has to remind himself to breathe. 

She doesn't even hesitate. She runs right into his arms and squeezes, letting him know that she not an illusion. 

He pulls back and unwrapes the scarf from around her face because he can't stand to not see her for one second now that she's back. "Why didn't you call me?" he gets out. 

Her eyes take in his entire face like she's soaking up all the lines and wrinkles into her memory. "I wasn't planning on coming back today. I was in an airport and there was a plane leaving in five minutes to Maine and I just hopped on." 

"So you were planning on coming back, then?" She smiled at him and nodded. "I've been planning on coming home for a while now, I just didn't know how."

His heart stumbled as the word home left her lips. He never expected for her to come back, let alone make it known that this is where she called her place of rest. 

She stood up on her tip toes and gives him one small second to back away before she places her lips on his. It's everything he's ever wanted in one kiss and it's all he can do to stay upright. As she stepped back, Gold caught the looks of everyone around them. The looks were some of awe and some were a look of enjoyment, but he really didn't feel like being an attraction today. 

"Let's go home." he says, so low that only she could hear. He picked up a few of her bags and started walking. "Your limp isn't as bad as it used to be." He looked over at her and nodded. "Got tired of my cane." 

****

She'd been with him for fifteen hours. They hadn't slept much, but that was fine with Gold. He felt as if he went to sleep, she would be gone like it was just another dream about her. He was afraid to walk out of a room for fear that when he got back she would be gone.

She tells him all about the places she's been and it reminds him of just how much he's missed her. At some point she digs into one of her bags and comes up with a three stacks of letters. She tells him that somewhere along the line, she stopped being mad and started collecting postcards. She'd put her initial thoughts on the postcard and then write a letter to him during each stop she took. "I knew I couldn't mail them but I knew I would come back someday. I always knew." she tells him that night while they're all tangled up in sheets.

When they finally can't muster any more strength, they both climb under the covers and wrap themselves around each other. He's almost asleep when she lifts her head from his stomach. "We wasted so much time, Rumple." Her voice sounds about as little as it could possibly get and he just rubs a hand down her back.

"It's ok, sweetheart."

****

He wakes with a body on top of him. She's not heavy by any means but it still takes him off guard. She shifts a little, burrowing her head into his neck.Gold kisses the side of her jaw and runs his nose on the edges of her ear. 

If you had told him yesterday that his true love would have come waltzing through the town line, he wouldn't have believed it. Some part of him would always never believe that she was back.

Her arms pull around him tighter as she starts to wake up just a little. "Go t' sleep." she murmurs in a sleepy voice. He chuckles at her. "Ok." 

Her hair tickles his nose and he realizes that this is all he needs for the rest of his life. He might have been emotionally stunted a few years ago, but he knows better now. Knows that he could never let her leave him again.  
She softly snores in his ear, breath hitting his face and soothing him. He doesn't ever want to leave his bed. He'll do better this time, he knows he will.

"I promise, sweetheart. I love you." He knows she hears him because her snoring dissipates and he finds himself getting kisses on his shoulder. 

"Love you too."

And the thing is, they both mean it.


End file.
